seen from Poland
seen from Spain
seen from Guatemala
seen from Italy
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Brazil
seen from Italy
seen from Malaysia
seen from Germany
seen from Malaysia
seen from Italy
seen from Germany
seen from France
seen from Malaysia
seen from Belgium
seen from United States
seen from Poland
seen from China
*.✧Viridis Ashengrotto✧.*
"This is the kind of break in the ice we've been waiting for."
The younger brother to Octavinelle's housewarden Azul Ashengrotto
is a famous painter up on land, and is the leader and founder of the Creative Arts Club
has a solid reputation of providing people with their wants and needs no matter how absurd the request is and its without the risk of being bound to a contact (cough azul cough)
Uh I completely forgot to share this
Mb y'all
At the time, I was just trying out my new pen markers and I'm very satisfied with it yahoo
All together
You Change Your Mind Like a Girl Changes Clothes
REQUEST: Hii, I saw some of your fanfics on AO3 and loved them! I saw you had an event up, so I was wondering if you would mind writing Azul x Reader with the song 'Hot n Cold' (from the falling in love with Azul playlist)?
SUMMARY: Azul keeps doing contradictory things. And you don't know why. WORD COUNT: ~800
WARNINGS: Uhm angsty even though it technically wasn't supposed to be whoops?? Azul basically being indecisive. A/N: Okay so technically this song is in the "falling in love with Azul" playlist but!! This was the way I saw it- Make sure to talk things out with your significant other to not get into a big misunderstanding (like this one) I'm like 99% sure this was not what you were expecting from this song (paired with that playlist) and it was probably a weird idea on my part to add it there- It took me literally so long to write this because I had a random motivation decline and I'm so sorry about that- But I'm really glad you enjoy my writing!! For this event.
© kazumiwrites - All rights reserved; please do not steal, edit, copy, repost (etc) my work without my express permission.
Azul Ashengrotto x gn reader angst:
Ah! What do you want?
TW: angst, mentions of death, insecurities, and more
Azul was in distress. For more reasons than one, at that. If you were to ask Jade or Floyd, they would simply mention, that he is always like that, his mind busy with important matters. Yet even the twins could tell that it was slightly, just slightly, different from the other times. It could be the last test, on which Octavinelle students placed terribly, or it could be the belated order of fresh vegetables to the Mostro Lounge. Or maybe, just maybe, it is the Ramshackle prefect, who has started spending more and more time with the trio.
It started as just a silly exclamation proclaimed by Y/N while they were hanging out one day. It was warm outside and they were all hiding under the shade of a tree, snacking on some fruit Y/N cut and packed that morning. The conversation kept circling about the topic of school, so the prefect asked about their latest troubles. Azul didn't waste a second and immediately jumped to complain about his recent troubles.
“The project from alchemy! I am stuck in a group with Floyd and Ruggie,” Azul started, his stare becoming uncharacteristically dark and bothered, “and both of them refuse to cooperate, rather spending all the time chatting away,” he sent a glare at Floyd, who was too busy taking his apple apart skin from the fruit.
“Oh, it can't be that bad. What are you making?” Y/N smiled at him, handing him the tupperware with cut strawberries, which Azul gladly accepted
“Oh, trust me, it is. And it's a potion the class chose, so we're doing a love potion,” he threw one of the pieces into his mouth, quickly swallowing it whole, “it's horrendous,” he finished.
“Well, a love potion is a neat project, I think,” Floyd has now stopped playing, choosing to jab at Y/N's side to gain their attention.
“Well, for you, maybe. Love is just a waste of time, not to mention if you have to make a potion. Love like that is unreal and will just hurt the person,” Azul rolled his eyes, not really seeing eye-to-eye with his friend.
“Well then, lucky for you, my feelings are genuine and real,” the prefect gave a wide smile. Azul and Jade stopped their movements, surprised at what their friend just said so openly.
“Stop this foolishness, Y/N,” he grew red in the face, comical smoke coming from his head as he tried to calm down his beating heart.
“I mean it, Azul, I've liked you for some time now,” Y/N shrugged their shoulders, trying to appear less nervous than they actually were. Had Azul not been so worried about his own actions, he would've noticed the shake in their voice and their red cheeks.
“Lying isn't going to get you anywhere, prefect,” he spoke after a minute. His voice never sounded so angry towards them. Y/N, surprised at this, stopped in the middle of taking the apple Floyd was offering them.
“Right,” they spoke after clearing their throat. If only Azul wasn't too prideful (actually self-conscious) to notice the tears at the corner of their eyes as they got up, too hurt to trust their voice to say anything more without crying. The rest of the break went in silence.
Now back to the present. Y/N was ignoring the trio for almost a week after the incident, for reasons unknown to them. Then as if nothing, they visited them at Mostro Lounge. They acted just like before, their smile looking as bright as any other day. Jade decided to not bring it up while Floyd basically forgot anything happened in the first place, excited to see his “Shrimpy”.
“Yes, can I get F/D? Thank you,” Jade left their table with a polite smile. Perhaps it was unusual for them to sit at a table just like any other quest and not walk to their special room, to which they have unrestricted access as one of their friends. Jade gave the order to Floys to deliver, deciding to pay a short visit to his boss, Azul, who had been busier with work than ever.
“Jade? You may enter,” the voice on the other side said. Preparing himself, Jade couldn't help but slightly smirk about the whole situation. It was obvious the prefect was just a fool in love, while Azul was but a fool.
“It may be of interest to you, that the Ramshackle prefect-” Jade didn't even finish talking, before Azul practically jumped out of his chair at the words, already rushing into the swarm of people.
“Y/N!” he said once he spotted their figure sadly slouching above their F/D. Once their head lifted, Azul stopped at their table, awkward silence filling the otherwise noisy restaurant.
“Azul,” they answered, nervous.
“I'm glad to see that you've been well,” he tried, slowly.
“Oh, it's fine. I had some time to myself, especially to think, and realized a few things,” Y/N spoke truly, one of the things Azul appreciated about them, “for example, that I must make you realize my feelings for you!” the smile was back. Azul's heart started beating once more, not believing any of this was true.
“What?”
“I should've known you would have a hard time answering my confession. But it is alright, I'll just capture your heart some other way!” Azul was about to scream when the prefect stood up with that bright smile of theirs. He was left confused for a second, before they took his hand in theirs, quickly kissing it before bolting out.
With a horrified expression, Azul ran back to his office to scream at the top of his lungs. Calm down, heart!
Exhibit A (Risotto):
“I had nothing to do this morning so I made you lunch,” said Y/N as soon as they walked to Azul's classroom, handing the lunchbox into his hands, “I couldn't decide what to get you so I made risotto,” yet Azul kept looking at their face. He still wasn't used to the now open attraction Y/N started showing ever since that day at the Lounge. They looked genuine, but there was just no way they could actually like someone like him. He was Azul. Just Azul. He wasn't attractive, strong, or athletic … HELL! He wasn't even likable. All he had going for him was his wit and cunning nature. Nobody likes people like that, maybe Jade, but the two of them are alike.
“Uhm… thank you, Y/N,” he was quieter than intended, but it could not be helped. Azul was nervous.
“Enjoy it while it's warm! Love you!” they left in a hurry. He now only had eyes for the box in his hands, fascinated.
Floyd, noticing his hesitation, grabbed onto it swiftly: “Thank you for the meal!” he loudly clapped his hands and tilted the box to eat everything in one big gulp. And Azul was angry. That was his meal!
“I didn't want it either way,” he said once he noticed the Leech brother snickering at him in triumph. He stood up, dusted his pants, and left them.
Exhibit B (Hatsune Miku):
“Hey, Azul?” he turned in the direction of the voice. The prefect stood at the door to his office, their hands playing with the hem of their shirt.
“What is it?” he spoke after clearing his throat, that was the first time he spoke that day.
“Are you busy?”
“Not too busy, why?”
“Could I ask you to go to Sam's with me?” they now walked into his office, closing the door slowly, “I asked Deuce and Floyd already, but they were busy, I didn't see anyone else,” their hands now came nervously to their neck.
“Oh? Give me a minute,” he put all his papers and contracts aside, reaching for his hat. He was ready quickly, so they were outside in a blink.
“Thank you so much, Azul!” Y/N started once they were nearing the store, their eyes sparkling while they held his hand in appreciation. With a cough, he took his hand out of theirs and looked to the side.
“It's nothing, really. Do you know what you want to buy?”
“Yes, I need food for Grim and me,” Azul didn't know what he was expecting. It came as a little bit of a surprise to hear that they had to get their own food but before he had the chance to ask further, they were walking through the door to the store.
“Azul, look!” Y/N grabbed his arm harshly, forcing him to stand next to them as they pointed to a toy on the shelf. It was-
“She looks just like Hatsune Miku! From my world,” they spoke as their eyes kept looking at it, mesmerized. That quickly changed once they fell down at the price tag, “oh, now that I think about it, she looks totally different, never mind,” they let go of his arm and started walking in the other direction. Now, Azul was a genius, which is why he picked up on their behavior immediately. The toy was simply too expensive. He isn't one to buy a present for someone without something in return, but he guessed he could do it to see that same happy expression. With a sigh, he took the doll (it was a collectible figurine, but he was uncultured) by the head. Not knowing it will be removable, one of the two big pigtails fell down to the floor making noise throughout the whole store. Embarrassed, he crouched down to pick it up and, hopefully, put it back into place. Y/N didn't seem to notice, so he rushed to find Sam and quickly pay for it without them knowing.
Once it was over, he walked back to the aisles to find his friend. Said friend was currently kneeling on the floor trying to reach something.
“Azul, look what I fou- Hatsune Miku?” their sentence was interrupted by no one but themselves as they spotted the figurine in his hands.
“Uh, I noticed you looking at the doll, so I bought it for you,” he got nervous as he handed the blue-haired toy to them. It reminded him a little of Idia Shroud.
“Really?” Y/N threw their arms around his person as they started quietly sniffling, “this is the most amazing gift, thank you so much, Azul,” they kept thanking him while trying to rub their eyes. He wasn't expecting that, so he couldn't help but become flustered at their happy reaction. Did the toy actually mean that much to them?
“By the way, it's a figurine, not a doll,” they said after letting him out of their embrace. It was suddenly cold.
“Excuse me, then,” he tried with a laugh, also easing the situation.
“Let's go pay!”
“Azul, stop,” the prefect said once he was about to leave Ramshackle. He stopped in his tracks looking back at his friend.
“What is it, prefect?” they walked closer to him and took his hand to them. He was somewhat getting nervous.
“Hehe! I want to thank you once again for the figurine,” they got on one knee, still holding onto his hand, “will you marry me?” they took a ring pop out of their pocket, putting it on his ring finger.
“What?” the flustered mess that he was, he couldn't say anything much in return, rather opting to run away like a coward. But now a coward with a candy ring on his finger.
Exhibit C:
It was out of control. Every day, the prefect would find ways to play with the heart of or flirt with the one and only Azul Ashengrotto. He could not keep up anymore. Every day, he got several kisses on his hands (sometimes, the prefect would ask for permission to kiss his cheek), hugs, flirty remarks as well as declarations of love. If it was all just an act, Y/N was doing a great job at making it look real. He almost wanted to say yes to the date invitation the other week, which brings us to the situation at hand.
“Malleus told me today will be an extra beautiful night, as the meteor shower should be happening tonight,” they started while the two of them were walking to school. Y/N started waiting for him at his dorm so they can walk to school together every day.
“Yes, it's possible it is tonight,” he answered, completely missing the tone in which the prefect started this conversation.
“Right! I was hoping we could go watch it together, you know, on a date,” they handed him an envelope, which he took without any second thoughts. On it was his name with a little heart.
“Oh, sure,” came out of him nonchalantly as he kept gawking at the envelope in his hands.
“Great! See you tonight, then!” Y/N happily ran away into their classroom.
“So you're not going?” questioned Jade while they were eating lunch at the canteen. Today, Y/N was eating with their friends from 1st grade.
“No, I figured this might finally be the chance to let them know I will not fall for their tricks, no matter what,” Azul answered, poking at his meal that was not at all close to those Y/N made for him.
“Where is that envelope?”
“Oh, I threw it away,”
“Without reading it?”
“No point in reading it,”
Meanwhile, Y/N was walking back to their dorm when they spotted their letter in the trash can.
Oh, he probably threw it away after reading it, that's fine!
“The weather is looking worse and worse, we should close Mostro Lounge early so nobody gets caught in the rainstorm,” Jade voiced as the two of them were looking out the window at the situation outside.
“You're right, let's close early,” agreed Azul, his mind drifting to his friend who wanted to watch the stars. They weren't stupid enough to go out in this weather. Maybe even the universe was trying to hint at him.
Azul was the last one to leave, making sure everything is in perfect shape before locking up and leaving for his dorm. The weather was indeed growing worse by the minute so he made sure to be quick. They didn't have storms like these in the sea!
“Azul Ashengrotto!” he was awoken from his calm sleep by an angry voice, one that he couldn't recognize immediately after waking. The light in his room turned on and in the door to it stood none other than an angry Riddle, with an equally angry Floyd towering over him.
“Riddle? Floyd?” he asked, sleepily rubbing his eyes.
“Where is the Ramshackle prefect?” asked Riddle, his before folded hand now raising a finger at him in question.
“What?”
“Y/N left their dorm to go on a “date” with you and still hasn't returned. Where are they?” he walked to his bed, Floyd following right after.
“What happened with Shrimpy?” he added.
“How am I supposed to know?” Azul got defensive, throwing his hands around.
“The place of your meeting was in the letter! I don't know the location!” Riddle, now very red, grabbed onto his collar. Azul's whole world shook with how aggressive he was with him.
“I don't know, Riddle!” Riddle stopped shaking him, “I threw the letter away,” he now said, looking at his now messy pajama. Riddle let go of him instantly. His loud footsteps echoed through the room despite the raging storm as he angrily walked away from him and his room.
“You, are an asshole,” he turned around at the last second to curse at Azul, his red hair now gone. Floyd, who still stood in the room now looked at him.
“Shrimpy better be okay,” with a glare, he left to follow Riddle. Nervous, Azul followed after them, but there was no sight of either Riddle or Floyd. Nervous, he just ran outside to get to the school as quickly as possible. Maybe the letter was still in that trash can.
He kept digging, but his eyes couldn't spot the slightly yellowed envelope from just the afternoon that day. He was crying.
“Ah!” his eyes finally saw a glimpse of something just a little familiar as he wasted no second to get to it, the familiar handwriting in sight. Ripping the envelope open, he unraveled the letter, almost ripping it in the process. His eyes skimmed through what was the most heart-felt confession letter he's ever seen while his main focus was on spotting a location.
Where?
WHERE?
He finally saw the thing he was looking for, immediately bolting outside to find the only person he's ever genuinely loved and the only person that ever loved him. His legs hurt, but the only thing on his mind was the prefect. The prefect, who was currently nowhere to be found, all because of him. Breathing became painful as his lungs burned with every step he took. He couldn't hear anything, just the sound of his fast heartbeat.
“Y/N?!” he yelled once he was near the location. He finally allowed himself to stop and listen, hoping to hear their voice. But even after a minute, there was no response, so he ran again, yelling at the top of his weak human lungs. When he could not hear anything in return, the biggest of his fears started rushing into his brain at the speed of light. All reminding him, that it was all his fault for not showing up.
“Y/N, please!” he spoke, voice breaking as he fell to the muddy ground. The rain was the coldest thing he's ever experienced. Heavy drops kept hitting his body, the pressure of them only sinking him further and further below. Maybe this was his fate all along?
“..zul” the faintest of voices. He recognized it, either way. Springing to his feet, he ran once more in the direction he believed the sound came from.
“Y/N! Where are you?” he could not hear them again, but he was sure it was them he heard just a second ago. His senses never felt as heightened as then and there. He ran for a good minute before he spotted something unusual on the ground. A body.
“Y/N?” he asked as he ran. Ran faster than his legs could muster, faster, than Floyd.
Once he was close enough, he turned the body around, fear consuming his whole being as the face of the prefect appeared. He choked on a sob. They were so pale.
He quickly took off his jacket, wrapping it around their cold body.
“Y/N? Can you hear me? Y/N?!” try as he might, the person in his hands didn't flinch. His hands gave up as he tried, desperately, to lift them up and carry them. Somewhere! Anywhere! Oh, please! With another choked sob, he transformed into his octoform. It wasn't much, but it was stronger than his human body. The tentacles that weren't holding onto their body all rushed to the school. Someone who could help will surely be there, right?
“Just a little more, Y/N,” he could feel just the faintest of heartbeats from them, so he kept holding onto that little bit of hope left. His figure barged through the doors, where stood Crowley, nervously pacing around before stopping at the loud noise.
“Ashengrotto? And Y/N?” he instantly ran to him.
“They need help!” Azul yelled at the headmaster, not allowing him to even touch their body.
“Follow me,” and so they ran. Azul had no idea where, it was all a blur. Everything only became clear once they walked into the infirmary and he set their body to one of the beds, medics already tending to the human.
“How are they?” he asked once he changed back into his human form and calmed down at least a little.
“They are slowly becoming stable. We can't see any permanent damage yet, so that's good,” someone spoke. Azul could finally rest. His body became limp as he fell to the ground, adrenaline leaving.
“Mr. Ashengrotto?” someone shook him awake. It was one of the medics.
“Y/N has awoken,”
“Y/N!” he was at their side in an instant. Worriedly looking them up and down. They looked like a mess, but they were there. Breathing.
“Y/N I'm so glad you're okay!” he cried as he snaked his arms around their weak body. He couldn't help but shake his body while sobbing uncontrollably.
“You don't even know how much I've-”
“Excuse me, who are you?”
“What?”
“Just kidding! Good morning, Azul!” Y/N laughed, but Azul could not do the same. One of his hearts almost stopped working!
“Y/N, please, do not joke about this,” he pleaded, his sobs now louder than before. He wouldn't handle it if it were to actually happen. Y/N's hands caressed his back and he wept into their shirt.
“I thought you didn't like me,”
“Are you kidding? I love you too much. I just couldn't believe you would like someone like me, so I tried to push you away,” he finally came clean to the one person he loved.
“Azul,” they grabbed onto his shoulders, now looking at him intensely, “you are everything to me, I was not joking this whole time at all! I want to love you, appreciate you, call you beautiful every single day, tell you I love you every single day!” they spoke, now their own tears spilling.
“I love you, too, Y/N. I'm so, so glad you're fine,”
“Actually,”
“Hm?”
“I can't see through my left eye,”
“WHAT?”
“You don't have to! It's alright, love!” the prefect tried to persuade Azul, who was busy going through all his contacts.
“But I want to, dearest! There is definitely someone, who can cure you!” he spoke as he kept flipping to all of his documents. Let all that networking come to use, finally.
“I'm alright just being with you, really,” Azul didn't have any of that bullshit. He looked to his, now, lover and with a smile gave them a little peck.
“I promise I will not over-do this, how about you go hang out with Floyd in the mean time, hm?”
“Floyd will bite me! And I wanted to spend time with you,”
“Well, guess this can wait,” Azull shook his head, and pushed the documents aside as he took their hand into his with yet another quick peck.
“We're going on the best date you've ever had!”
If you've gotten this far, thank you for reading! This one-shot is going to be a little connected to my next headcanons (Octavinelle) and there was one about Azul that I really liked and wanted to develop into a greater work, so here it is. I wrote this really quickly, so it's not even proof-read, so please read it with a grain of salt. I love you 🫶 respectfully and with your permission
texting
*In a group chat*
azul: A pegan just flew into my window.
leona: Pegan?
floyd: A what?
sebek: Ah yes, my favourite bird, Pegan.
jack: I thought you said penguin for a second, LMAO!
sebek: Just a normal day with flying penguins crashing into my window.
jack: You have pigeons flying into your window? Can't relate, I have penguins flying into my window.
azul: I literally just made a typo-
Fathoms Below
an Azul Ashengrotto supplementary short story
—————-
It was night. It was always night when he snuck in here. There wasn’t a single Octavnielle student to spot him, to catch him in the act.
One would assume that he was sneaking off to get a midnight snack, from the dorm kitchen…but the way his barefeet collided against the sea foam green carpet floor, you would think otherwise.
Azul Ashengrotto HATES his feet. The feeling of sinking them down beneath him, and although he was sensible and well, practical…his feet were never on the ground unless they had to be.
He quickly entered the dorm bathroom, and locked the door. Being the house-warden of such a dorm, he couldn’t risk his own dorm-mates to become skeptic. Floyd would never let him hear the end of it.
Now that he was all alone, in his thoughts, he began to focus. Focusing on the thought of home under the sea, no longer part of this world. He removed his glasses from his face and unbuttoned his uniform pants, as they dropped the floor with a clink of his belt, he then unfastened each little button upon his uniform jacket and quickly slipped off his necktie. Leaving himself in only his underwear.
Azul made haste of this procedure and, quickly opened one of the mahogany colored cabinets under the dorm sink, and revealed a bucket which had a white lid tightly secured. He made sure to open it slowly as possibly so not a single grain of salt was spilt out and then he emptied the bucket into the large bathtub in the middle of the bathroom. Taking a slight whiff of the salt.
That’s what it was. The strangest thing one could ever witness when it came to Azul. His baths are always cold and usually with mineral salt. This time he raided the cafeteria’s storage when Jamil Viper was busying himself to creating some new sort of confection for Kalim Al-Asim of Scarabia House.
“Kosher salt would just have to do, huh?”Azul muttered to himself, and with a swift flick of his finger, using some of his elemental wind magic, the faucets of the bathtub turned. Only the cold faucet.
Azul then removed his underwear and stepped one foot into the bath, his eyes closed quickly and he took a deep breath. Trying not cry or let a tear stray from the corner of his eyes. Stepping another foot into the water he felt the water which feels so cool against his skin, trickling and rippling as he began to settle down. There's a salty tang in the air, which you can taste as you breathe it in. Maybe you can smell seaweed. If only he knew to grab some from the kitchen, but that would be too risky, Jamil was an observant student. He probably was already skeptic about him taking a great amount of salt.
“Whatever!” The Octavinelle students would say one time amongst themselves when noticing their housewardens odd behavior. This happened often. “He’s stealing from the kitchens and pantries of the school to finance his stupid desires and his stupid baths!”
“Shhhh! Keep your voice down!” Another Octavinelle student would say. They once chanced a look at Azul through the cracks of the bathroom door, and sometimes as he passed, they would try and guess what did he do in there every night with all that salt.
From the moist air that hit the bathroom a moment later it was obvious that Azul was in the middle of one of his fancy baths right then. The mirrors fogged up with musk and the reflections of whomever would look at themselves no longer visible. Good. It gave Azul time to be his true self. He knocked tentatively on the top of the bathtub to ensure that no one else would come, this was to make noise, hoping that no one would hear. If anyone noticed that sound, they would surely notice the rest.
Alas no one came to the bathroom, much to Azul’s pleasure. He then relaxed and reclined into the bathtub and began to transform. His bipedal appendages ripped apart into fours, and then into eights, violent and muffled winces were released from Azul’s full pink lips, he then cupped his hands onto his face, trying to keep himself from shrieking in pain. The human magic was wearing off and he was returning. He was Azul Ashengrotto again, the young Cecaelia from the deep dark depths of the Oceans of Atlantica.
Unlike Floyd and Jade Leech, confident in their Moray Eel form, it took a-lot of willpower, self love and courage for Azul to commit to transforming into his true self. Being alone in the bathtub with his own reflection was a step up for sure.
And while he was alone, there were other things that filled Azul’s heart with joy. Things he wouldn’t air out to the rest of the Night Raven College student body, other than his joy of board games with Idia Shroud, he did like to sing. And oh boy did he have the pipes. Maybe it’s because Cecaelia are so prone to stealing the voices of poor unfortunate merfolk, but his was special and it was also his own voice from
“heartless witch of the sea…heartless indeed, ensorcelling me…” The air was luxurious bath which could be obvious that Crowley spent über amounts of Thaumarks and funding to this school was obvious and the way his voice echoed against the wall but never allowed the sound to seep through proving how much the headmage put into it.
“Oh, let him see me for who I am, for without a voice, my face alone must speak for me…” his voice was airy and gentle and it gave off an aria of unspeakable siren like notes. Azul and any other sea-being had the biology which could write them as sirens, bringing down forces of nature with their very voice.
Azul’s pajamas were thrown sloppily over a lavender colored hamper which indicated that any of the clothes within it belonged to him. Something he didn’t think he would have to do but merfolk like Floyd existed, so he had to label it.
“If I could dance with him but once, I know he would love me….One waltz in the sand; I would be free…. I don’t know, it’s really not so great. Not much to write home about. The sand, I mean. It gets positively everywhere and feels nasty in your foldy bits.” Azul lamented about his distaste for many of the human things that he’s come to adapt to while he was on Sage’s Island as he continued a song he heard once or twice by a Cecaelia woman when he was a young cephalopod in the sea.
“What a lovely little bride I'll make, My dear, I'll look divine! Things are working out according to my ultimate design! Soon I'll have that little mermaid, and the ocean will be mine!” Azul gave out one of his famous cackles as he sighed dreamily, clearly enjoying his bath. That verse was engraved and carved into an old relic he found one day under the sea during one of his many excavations as a child, and he couldn’t help but wonder whose words were these? The words sent him into a nostalgic state although he had never heard of them before.
His lavender hair when it wasn’t styled in such a way was slippery and flowed straight down to the middle of his neck. The one bang which would remind anyone of a purple tentacle hung loose atop his head. Fathoms of bubbles and suds filled the top of the tub and spilled out onto the floor, slowly dripping down like the tentacles of his octopus counterparts , Azul was splashing and talking to himself and playing in the bath almost like a child.
His tentacles sprawled out against the waters and his back reclining against the porcelain tub. The purple and black colored appendages contrasting greatly. Azul remembered, the stories his mother told him about the Little Mermaid and the amazing Sea Witch Ursula. He was told of the wonders—the truth of what foam and bubbles and suds meant in theory to his merpeople. When he was in the bath how could he forget? Foam represented death to the ocean people, their bodies would reduce to foam like a human to ash. And to think he’s flailing and squirming within it for fun, not out of mourning but for ‘cleanliness’. It was a strange concept.
Jade brought the topic up once. Under the sea, they didn’t have such thing as Air Baths or Air pools like they do here. Not for fun or cleanliness. So what was the human’s deal? Azul knew that he shouldn’t question everything the humans on dry land did. He tried not anyways. So he sat down in deep thought for the remainder of his bath, basking in the makeshift saltwater ocean beneath him, he let himself go too easily, he became too vulnerable, thinking that he was in the real thing.
For a slight second—so quickly that Azul could have dismissed it as a shadow or a trick of the light and bubbles if he didn’t know better—a tentacle snaked out of the water, then quickly back in, like it had forgotten itself for a moment.
————-
inspired by Part of Your World by Liz Braswell and Disney’s Little Mermaid
my version of azul and epel (insp by @/zvezdacito
